Archive for the ‘Video Games’ Category

I’ve been playing the Tomb Raider game for my PS3.
Here’s my review:
The games starts out with Lara Croft and the Endurance crew in a storm that leaves them stranded on a uncharted island.
They soon find out they’re not alone,and it’s up to Lara Croft to save the day.

I have to admit I was never a fan of the games (I only played 1 TR game for the PS1 and didn’t like it)
So,I was curious about this reboot by Square Enix (I’m a fan of their Final Fantasy games)

To my surprise,I really enjoy playing the game.
While I said I didn’t like the games,I always like Lara Croft.
This is pretty much a origin story for Ms.Croft,We see how she became a badass,gun-toting tomb raider (not by choice,but just to survive)
They didn’t change her appearance all that much (which is nice)
I like this version of Lara Croft than past versions.

One thing I didn’t like about the TR games was that controls were just god awful.
They fixed that problem,her moves feel more natural.
The camera angles were fixed here as well (I never had a single issue with the camera)

Weapons in the game are great too.
The bow & arrow is by far the best weapon in the game (you’re going to use that more than any other weapon)

The map is huge (you’re going to wind up exploring to find relics,gps,challenges,and,documents)

The only downside to the game is the multiplayer (it feels like an afterthought)

Overall this is the first Tomb Raider game I enjoy playing.
If you’re new to the franchise,this is a good starting point.

Anyway,here’s my review.
Everything you loved about Batman:Arkham Asylum is back,but with more stuff to do.
It takes place in a city/prison by Hugo Strange.
You still have to go up against the Joker though.

Gameplay is the same (which is a good thing)
You also have side missions to do (which adds a nice change of pace from the story)
I like the “open world” setting of the game instead of Arkham Asylum.
You have new gadgets to play this time around,while favorites like Remote Control Batarang & Explosive Gel return.
After finishing the game,you can play New Game + with all the gadgets you get(but the game is harder so you better use the stuff you have)
The soundtrack is amazing,I think it can compete against any movie soundtrack out there.

One of the things I didn’t like AA was the lack of Challenge Maps.
Arkham City changes that by adding more Challenge Maps.

I love Catwoman in Arkham City.
Her fighting style is very different from Batman (which is great since you have another character to play around with)
If you bought the Robin & Nightwing DLC (Like I did),they play differently as well.
Unfortunately you can’t play them in Story Mode,But you can play them in The Challenge Maps & 2-D side scrolling campaign.

The Riddler is back with more Riddler Trophies to collect.

Overall I loved playing this game.
I give it a 5 out of 5.

As for Batman:Arkham Asylum,I give it a 4 out of 5.

Batman:Arkham City is one of the few games that surpasses the first one.

If you’re new to the games,I recommend playing Batman:Arkham Asylum first then Arkham City.
I think resident Batman fan Lauren would give this her seal of Approval 🙂

I finally got around to watching what all my friends have been calling an amazing work of art. A work of art so amazing my eyes will cry unicorn blood while pixies dance around my living room, having sex and leaving poop everywhere. Poop that cured asthma, even.

This isn’t a review about the documentary, though. As great as it was (it really was), it opened up my young eyes to a nerdy evil more evil than…I dunno, something evil.

Billy Mitchell.

If your skin isn’t crawling after that, then thanks for reading, Bruce Campbell. Please note, that everything stops when he enters an arcade. I only wish that when I grow up, that I can command so much power, that I too can make people stop playing video games/reading comic books/having glorious amounts of sex in order to stare at the glory that is me.

Except not. He was (as of September of this year, he is not) the highest record holder in the game Donkey Kong. That is why he’s famous. Because he’s really fucking good at a video game. He didn’t cure cancer, he didn’t save a group of children from a burning building. No. He was just really good at playing Donkey Kong. I am aware that much of what he said was probably taken out of context (seriously, it’s pretty clear-cut who the bad guy and the good guy are), but some of it you really have to think. I mean, one of his buddies was calling him with score updates. As a girl who does a fair amount of gabbing, this is a sign that Billy/his friend are jealous/angry/PMSing/acting like twats over someone else possibly beating the score.

I will give props that he owns his own hot sauce company. That is bad ass, as I do enjoy hot sauce a great deal. However, some of the way he acted in this movie (especially the scene where he see’s his rival in the arcade!) is just downright childish.

The Escapist magazine has a new video on Free Speech and Video Games. It’s actually a srs business video discussing the fact that California’s law preventing minors from purchasing video games with “violent conduct,” basically claiming that video games contain zero artistic value, and they “do harm” to minors. Go, watch it, then come back.
What, I’m not going to go on until you watch it.

okay. This video is actually pretty important material. If video games can be censored for “harming children,” who are “clearly unable to make choices for themselves,” where does that leave the rest of pop culture material?

In the first place, if you are a minor, why do you have real purchasing power? Minors, those under the age of 18, generally speaking, can’t hold jobs. Without being able to hold a job, how do they have money of their own? Allowances? Parents, in my opinion, should be monitoring what their children are spending their money on, because there is no law saying you have to give a child an allowance. If your 12 year old is using his monthly allowance to purchase a violent video game, I think you should know this!! How is your 12 year old getting to the store? How are they coming home and playing that game without you, as a parent, knowing?? They don’t! They can’t! They’re CHILDREN.

So lets say your minor is 16 years old and is working at ShopRite. Or wherever. Sixteen, a whole two years younger than eighteen, is a world of difference. Yet, part of what I mentioned before still stands. How can you have no idea what kinds of entertainment your child is choosing? And, as a parent, isn’t it your responsibility to control or influence that in some way? Or decide that your child is indeed mature enough to play this game and be fully aware that they aren’t going to go out and blow people away because that’s what they do?

Beyond that point, in general employees at game shops will often advise parents of the content of a game if they know that the game is being purchased for a minor. Games also have a rating system from the ESRB. Games are rated Early childhood, Everyone, Everyone over the age of 10, Teen (13+), Mature, Adults Only, and Rating Pending. It’s not like this rating is obscure. It is denoted on the front of the game, and EXPLAINED on the back of the game. Parents who are too ignorant to see this shouldn’t be blaming the game for being violent, they should be blaming THEMSELVES for NOT SEEING the fact that the game CALLS ITSELF violent!

If games are going to be censored or controlled by the government, then what says that other forms of entertainment, such as movies, COMICS, books and television are not going to become targets of this kind of legislature? If games harm minors, who can’t make decisions for the good of themselves, then why don’t comics fall under that? Why are movies exempt? They are….for now. But if this follows through, it opens the door for censorship across all entertainment genres, and sets up a legislation that permits violation of the First Amendment of our Constitution. Which is definitely Bad News Bears.

Essentially, I don’t understand why this case is making it to the Supreme Court. It simply, logically, legally, makes no sense. If you’re interested in hearing more and/or helping the cause, please visit this site: www.theeca.com.

So clearly this is out of context. However, it is in context for this post!

” G4 TV’s
Abbie Heppe was very critical of the game, rating it a 2 out of 5 on
the grounds that the gameplay was “mediocre”, and stating that the
portrayal of Samus is “sexist,” insulting to female gamers and
inconsistent with the rest of the series.”

First, I don’t take G4 seriously. I’m not sure why Abbie Heppe finds Samus sexist, perhaps she could write us geeks a 5 page essay on how a strong, female lead in an action video game is sexist. I’ve played Metroid, and frankly this bitch kicks more ass than Mega Man or Snake. Her body armor is also really bad ass. Frankly you can’t even drool over her body most of the time, because she’s in that bulky armor. Samus is also one of the major (and one of the first) female protagonists in a video game. That’s pretty important, and I don’t find that to be sexist. Perhaps, Abbie, that you should blow the sexist horn on something else. Maybe Princess Peach. As a female I find it sexist that she is constantly abducted by a giant lizard-turtle hybrid, and always needs to be saved by a short, fat Italian plumber.

Little Big Planet, the really awesome game on the PSP/PS3, now has Marvel characters! And not only that, they are super duper adorable! While this won’t get me to run out to stores to buy a system and that game (I have played it tho), I can’t help but fawn over little Iron Man or Thing. Maybe someone will produce toys of these cute little buggers.

Did anyone else watch the new Mortal Kombat trailer? Now I grew up and loved the N64 game. I played Sindel all of the time. She was indeed the head bitch in charge. I even liked the two movies, but I was uner the age of 12 so I didn’t know any better.

Well I saw the clip. I was laughing my ass off the entire time. It tries very hard to take itself super-duper seriously, and tries to look like something Christopher Nolan would do. The realism is just lost on me, since it’s pretty much dumb as shit. However, it was enjoyable. Maybe Sindel will be in it, or maybe this abomination of a movie will never be made.

Of course, Twilight movies are still being made so my wish clearly will not come true.

So I got a Wii and a Wii Fit for the children area where I work. I own a Wii at home, but I play by 360 more than anything else (plus I love Netflix). I had heard a lot of hype about the Wii Fit, that it will “replace” going to a gym, and all kinds of things. I’ve been playing Wii Fit for about a week now, and while I’ve noticed a slight decrease in my BMI, over all I still get a better workout at the gym.

That being said, this is great for people who are not active. This is still a step in the right direction. It gets you up and moving, and you are working out (although most of it is low impact) which is always good. Today on Wii Fit I burned 60 calories (and then in Zumba I burned about double of that). I’m not patting myself on the back, but for a lot of people who could be a big feat. I also like it because kids want to play it. There are so many cool and fun games for kids, they don’t tire of it. Getting kids in the habit of working out regularly will do wonders for them later down the line.

To be honest, I’m not halfway through Arkham Asylum 1, but this game is one of the best video games I’ve ever played. The graphics are stunning, the story is great, and the voice overs from the anime series are an exceptional touch. The choice of characters is great too; The Joker as the main boss is a clear choice. Not including Catwoman in the first game was also a great idea, since I feel she is just as important as Joker, and the two can’t really share a spotlight. I feel they would both somehow be shafted if they wound up in the same game as villains.

The wonderful thing about Catwoman is her ability to be a hero and a bad guy. Even when she is being bad, you can’t help but root for her. Hopefully if she is in the sequel, we can see her in both roles, as well as Batman’s love interest. I would also like to see her in the upcoming Batman movie. It only makes sense since Batman needs a love interest, and having her in that dual role would make for a very interesting story on the big screen. But I digress! The next game, no matter whom the villains are, will most likely blow me away. Hopefully this will mean a franchise of Batman games from here on out. What I don’t want to see is the Justice League get involved. If you suddenly included Superman, Wonder Woman, or Green Lantern in these games, I feel it would take away from the Batman feel, and somehow the other hero would become the main attraction.